Jericho Warming Hut

[gotmoxie]

www.jerichowarminghut.com/

Our Vision-One of life's most memorable experiences is standing on a high ridge looking out over a beautiful vista.

On a nice sunny day in the middle of summer, you can enjoy the view as long as you want. On a cold windy day, it becomes difficult to focus on the beauty before you. In the middle of winter with temps well below freezing, it can be downright dangerous.

But what if you could admire the view regardless of the weather conditions? What if you had a wood stove to dry out your wet clothing? What if you had a comfortable place to sit down with family and friends? It would make that view even more special because that trip has now become a wonderful memory.

That is our vision. To build a Warming Hut that welcomes all who want to visit our spectacular Scenic View Trail. A heated log cabin that provides shelter in bad weather and gives visitors a place to plan for the next leg of their journey.

We hope you will join with us to make our vision a reality. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you to be become one of the founders who make it possible to build this special place where travelers can gather to create memories that will last a lifetime.

Jericho Warming Hut - Week 1 Progress Report
June 23, 2011Pictures Courtesy of Roger Richard, John Higgins and Larry Gomes
Story by Larry Gomes

After over a year of planning, ground was broken on the Jericho Warming Hut. Matt Godbout had his excavator trucked in to the junction of the Camp Loop and Scenic View trails. Then he walked his excavator up the Scenic View trail to the landing. Once there, he installed stakes to guide his excavation and then dug trenches along the outline of the building.



Warming Hut building side marked out and ready for excavation with
Jericho Mountain in the background (6/7/11).




Matt digging out one of the side trenches for the building (6/17/11).





Trenches are dug and stone (delivered to the site by Ross Trucking) was brought in to form a stable
base for the foundation piers. Note the vibrator in the right trench that was used to compact the stone (6/17/11).





Adam from White Mountain Lumber delivers a load of cement and other materials up to the site.
The truck made it up the steep road with no problems (6/17/11).

The foundation work was started on Saturday. First the crew built a frame to the exact outside dimensions of the cabin floor (see frame in background of picture). This task was made a lot easier because Roger brought pre-cut triangular corners that could be quickly screwed into the frame to square it up.

The frame was then lowered into the trenches on top of the plastic big-foot bases. The big-foot bases were then lined up with the outside edges of the frame. Matt then used his excavator to dump stone on top of the bases to hold them in place.

Once all the bases were secured with stone, the frame was removed and trenches were hand dug in the stone for perforated drainage pipe. Water was constantly running into the back of the trenches during this entire operation, but most of it leached out through the stone.



Larry looks down into the trench to make sure the water is flowing. In the background
is the frame that was used to line up the eight big-foot bases for the cabin foundation.




John prepares a big-foot base for cement. Note the stone that was put in to hold the base in position.
Also note the rebar that has been installed at the top of the base. This rebar will eventually be welded together
to prevent any of the foundation bases from moving during winter freezes and spring thaws.





Roger pours cement into one of the Sonna tubes. Note the duct tape wrapped around the seams of the tubes
that was needed to keep them from splitting apart. Evidently we got the light duty tubes instead of the heavy
duty tubes by mistake. Also note how each tube was stabilized using a collar that fits around the tube and
braces fastened to stakes hammered into the ground.





With no running water on site, the crew had to improvise. Here John uses a small battery operation pump plugged
into his 12-volt accessory outlet on his ATV to fill water jugs. These jugs are then strapped into the trailer and
brought back to the site. One trailer load of jugs held enough water to get through an entire day of cement mixing.





Larry is mixing up on of the last bags of cement for the weekend. He mixed over 80 bags during the course of
the weekend. After it was mixed, the cement was poured into buckets so it can be easily poured into the big-foot
bases and Sonna tubes. The cement mixer was driven off a portable generator.




At the end of the day, the crew wired in sections of rebar to connect all of the posts together.
These sections will be welded together later on in the week. Note the drainage pipe
that was installed to drain water from the trenches over the edge of the cliff.




Foundation bolts were installed at the top of each cement piling to hold the perimeter beams in place.





Here is the crew at the end of a long weekend. From left to right is John Higgins,
Larry Gomes, Eric Johnson and Roger Richard.




All eight foundation piers have been poured and stabilized with bracing. They will be
left to dry for a week before being backfilled.

[gotmoxie]

Jericho Warming Hut - Week 2 Progress Report
June 27, 2011Pictures Courtesy of Roger Richard, John Higgins and Larry Gomes
Story by Larry Gomes

We had our doubts about getting anything done on our second work weekend. Weather forecasters had predicted rain and thunderstorms for Saturday and the possibility of rain again on Sunday. But we decided to take a chance and it turned out to be the right decision. We only got a little drizzle on Saturday and a passing shower on Sunday. Both days turned out to be almost perfect working conditions with cloudy, cool weather that kept the heat down and the bugs at bay.

The first order of business was to fill in around the foundation piers we had poured last week. Matt Godbout of MG Construction in Berlin has been donating all of the site work for the project and he did a great job filling in around the foundation piers taking great care not to hit them with rocks or debris during the backfill operation.




Just prior to backfilling, the crew installed 2" PVC conduit to connect the warming hut to the generator pad.
The generator will be housed in a dog-house located a safe distance away from the warming hut.
The generator will be used to power lights and outlets during special events.


The next step was to build the perimeter beams for the warming hut cabin. Since the cabin is coming from the factory pre-cut, it is essential that the cabin floor built to the correct dimensions so it matches the size of the cabin walls. With the variances in lumber sizes, Roger decided the best way to get the correct outside dimensions was to start building the perimeter beams from the outside in. Great idea Roger and it turned out to be fairly easy to do.



In the picture above, Matt has finished filling in around the warming hut foundation piers.
The crew has just finished cutting and screwing together the outer perimeter boards and leveling them.
Roger (center) works with Steve (right) to cut the next set of boards for the perimeter
beams while Larry (left) screws two of the perimeter boards together.





The perimeter beams were built by adding each successive row of 2" x 10" boards to the inside of the beam.
Here Larry uses clamps to hold the outer and inner boards together so the can be secured together with screws.
After the entire beam has been assembled, carriage bolts will be installed to keep the planks from coming apart.





The perimeter beams are now complete and ready for final assembly. Since the beams are already screwed
together in the corners and in the middle, carriage bolts are installed in the areas between the foundation piers to
keep the beams from separating when they start taking the building load. In the picture above you can see the
carriage bolts have been installed and tightened transforming the individual planks into a solid beam.






The final step of the perimeter beam installation is fastening the beam to the foundation piers.
When the piers were poured, foundation bolts were set in place so they would be just below
the finish height of the beam. Roger used a 3" hole saw to cut out a drill guide from a piece of
1/2 lumber and then he removed the center drill bit from the hole saw. He then installed his home-made
guide over the foundation bolt and was able to accurately drill a hole around the center of the bolt.
After chiseling out the wood core from around the bolt, he was able to install the 3"
foundation washer and torque the beam down tightly onto the cement piling.


With the perimeter beam for the cabin in place, the crew could now accurately locate the foundation pilings for the warming hut porch. Boards were attached to the sides of the warming hut beams and extended out 6' to simulate the sides of the porch. Then a front board was run between the two sides creating an exact-size outline for the porch. After these boards were leveled, they could be used to locate the position of the 3 foundation piers holding up the porch.





In the picture above, a temporary porch frame was used to locate the big-foot bases. John stands by waiting for more
stone which was used to lock the bases in place during the pouring operation. Also note the rebar that will tie
the bases together to keep them from moving during freeze/thaw cycles.


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Steve Szafran made the 4 1/2 hour trip to Berlin from Connecticut and he gladly pitched in wherever he was needed.
Steve rides mainly in the Pittsburg area and he is one of their regular club volunteers. When he found out about
the Jericho Warming Hut, he became a founder and also volunteered his time to help with the construction.
In the photo above, Steve is shoveling stone into the wheelbarrow and bringing it over to the porch area
where it will be used around the big-foot bases that will eventually support the porch.




John and Roger are fitting braces over the Sonna tubes to hold them in place during the pouring operation.






By the end of Saturday the crew had finished pouring the concrete foundation piers for the porch.
In the picture above, Roger installs the foundation bolts that will hold the porch beams to the cement piers.





Here is the Saturday work crew. From left to right is Steve Szafran, John Higgins,
Larry Gomes and Roger Richard. Not shown is Matt Godbout who had to leave earlier in the day.




On Sunday, Matt was back. First he welded the rebar that was used to tie the porch foundation piers to the cabin piers.
Then he proceeded to backfill around the porch piers and also worked on grading around the warming hut.




After Matt created a site for the generator, Larry and Steve brought in some stone and leveled the
form for the generator pad. They quickly mixed up 18 bags of cement and poured the pad.
The coffee can in the cement was used to create a hole where the underground conduit
comes in from the warming hut.


By the end of Sunday, all of the cement work at the site was completed. We are planning to spend the week of July 9th to July 17th working at the site. On July 9th, the crew will begin the installation of the cabin and porch floors. The cabin kit is due to be delivered on July 13 and we hope to start building the warming hut that same day .

If you had planned to help with the warming hut project, please try to take your vacation during this week since that is when we will need the most help. Contact [e-mail] with the days you are available.

[gotmoxie]

Warming Hut Work Week Scheduled for
July 9 to July 17

We have scheduled an entire week of work from July 9 to July 17. If you were going to take some time off to help us out, this is the week to do it.

Scheduled Tasks:
We will start out by installing the cabin floor. This is not all that easy since it must be insulated and sealed to insure no water gets in during construction.

We will also be installing Treks decking on the porch. Then we need to build a dog house for the generator.

If we have time, we will install the screening and lattice work around the base of the cabin. Hopefully all of this can get done over the 4 days of July 9 to July 12.

On July 13, the cabin kit gets delivered and we will begin the process of installing logs for the remainder of the week.

Again, this is the week that we really need your help so please do what you can to attend.

Materials to bring: Please bring your own snacks and drinks and work gloves and work boots.

Meeting Info: We will meet at 8:30am each day at the clubhouse and then head into the site from there. The White Mt. Ridge Runners clubhouse on Rt. 110 in Berlin, NH - across from Jericho Motorsports about 3 miles west of Berlin center.

Accommodations:
Free accomodations at Two Lakes Lodge will be available from July 9 to July 15. July 16 is booked at the Lodge so I will be making reservations at the Stark Village in which is only $30/night. You are welcome to join me there. Send me an email and I will give you their contact info.

RSVP:
PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND DURING THIS WEEK!
Send email to [e-mail]



Site Picture Taken on 6/26/11
Matt has completed a lot more site work around the warming hut than is shown in this picture. He built a rock wall around the outside perimeter of the hut and then pitched the area behind that wall so the water runs away from warming hut.

The area in front of the warming hut has been cleared of rocks and stumps and there is a clear path for the groomer to take around the warming hut. The large pile of dirt in front of the hut has now been built into a ramp that allows easy access up to the front porch. The view from the top of this ramp is spectacular and there is no doubt the warming hut is going to be a very popular stop in both winter and summer.



7-10-2011 Sealing the newly sanded deck.
Ready for the Logs!

To See more pictures of what we have done over the past week, click on the links below:

www.facebook.com/wmrrclub#!/photo.php?fbid=2199936326334&set=o.203417166339937&type=1&theater

[gotmoxie]

Jericho Warming Hut - Week 3 Progress Report
July 18, 2011
Pictures Courtesy of Roger Richard, John Higgins and Larry Gomes
Story by Larry Gomes

From Saturday, July 9th to Sunday July 17th there was a major push to get as much done on the warming hut as possible.

Several people took vacation days to help out during this week. Our group of volunteers exceeded even the most
optimistic projections by not only getting the warming hut
walls built, but by putting on a roof as well!






When the work started on Saturday, the only part of the structure completed was the foundation piers
and the perimeter beam as shown in this picture that was taken the week before.




The crew went right to work installing floor joists on 16" centers for the main cabin floor.
They also installed a 6" x 6" beam along the front of the porch and then installed porch
floor joists on 12" centers to insure the composite decking on the porch did not bend.





By the end of Saturday, the crew had finished the porch decking and the installation of the
main cabin porch joists. In addition, they had installed cleats along the bottom of the main
cabin joists and cut plywood inserts to fit into each joist opening. This plywood was
caulked and screwed into the cleats to insure that no bugs or critters could get into the cabin
from underneath.





On Sunday, the crew started the installation of the floor insulation. Each bat was cut to the exact
length and carefully placed inside the floor cavity.





With the insulation complete, it was time to install the floor using 3/4" Advantech.
Since we planning on using the Advantech as our finish floor, the group used sanders to
remove the Advantech logo and other markings.
Once the sanding was done, each seam was vacuumed cleaned and caulked.
The plan was to make the floor as waterproof as possible to keep
rain from getting into the insulation below the floor.



With the sanding and caulking done, it was time to put on the floor finish.
We used a product from Perma-Chink called "Sure Shine" that creates
a hard waterproof finish. After the 3 coats of floor finish was dry, the floor was
covered with three sheets of plastic to add another layer of waterproofing.






While some of the crew members worked on the warming hut floor, Bob Hatch
and John Higgins started work on the generator dog house. Above Bob fits up one
of the dog house walls.




Roger installs latches on the almost finished dog house. The roof is hinged to allow easy access
for starting and stopping the generator.





In between all of the other building activity, Steve Szafran found some time to help out with
site work. A York rake on a tractor was used to get rid of the larger rocks, but then
the entire site had to be hand raked to get rid of the smaller rocks.





This is a view of the site after all the hand raking was done.






On Tuesday, a lull donated by Pro-Quip Rentals in Gorham arrived.





On Wednesday, the warming hut delivery truck arrived. The driver did have some trouble
on one steep section of the access road. He had to back up to get a running start to make
it up one of the hills, but he eventually made it.





Here Roger unloads the delivery truck with the lull.




Since the logs were packed to minimize space during shipping, everything was out of order. We unpacked
the logs and sorted them under the pavilion. Each row of logs is a labeled with the a different letter so the logs
were arranged under the pavilion in rows from A to K.






As each row of logs was needed, it was loaded onto the lull and boomed out over the
floor of the warming saving lots of carrying time.




Roger made up a jig to bend a 90-degree angle into the flashing. This jig worked great
allowing us to bend up 60 feet of flashing in no time at all. The flashing fits under the
first row of logs to keep any water from getting in under the logs. Note the plastic covering
the floor and the stack of logs ready to be installed.




The walls of the warming hut have reached the level where the window frames must be installed.
Here Mike Roy puts foam tape and plastic splines along the sides of one of the window frames.
The splines and foam tape fit into groves that are pre-cut into the ends of the logs that
butt up against the window frames creating a tight seal.





The yellow rope hanging off the ends of the logs is used with a come-along
to squeeze the logs tightly together before they are screwed down with timber screws.
In this picture, Chris Therault is slacking the rope after another row of logs has been installed.




The back gable wall of the cabin is almost complete. The last two logs have just been cut
to receive the center beam and they are sitting on the center beam ready to be installed.




The center beam was carefully lifted into place and fastened to the back gable wall.
A center support post and two roof rafters hold the front of the center beam in place.


MORE PICTURES TO COME! CHECK BACK IN A DAY OR SO!
Now that the basic structure of the warming hut is complete, we will be working weekends to install the windows, doors, electrical panel, lighting, etc.
We will also be sanding and staining the exterior and interior of the warming hut.

We hope you will consider donating a day or two of your time to help finish the warming hut.

If you can help, please contact [e-mail] with the days you are available.

[rogy]

NICE JOB ON REPORT ON PROGRESS ON HUT HIGGY !!!!!

[gotmoxie]

[gotmoxie]

WMRR Announces Grand Opening for Jericho Warming Hut
Sunday October 16, 2011
The White Mountain Ridge Runners is pleased to announce plans for a ribbon cutting and grand opening of the the new warming hut in Jericho Mountain State Park. The warming hut is located on a 2,400 ft high hill overlooking Jericho Mountain and other mountains along the NH/ME border.

So far, 114 Founders have pledge their financial support along with donations of materials from several corporations and hundreds of hours of volunteer time. The club has received a grant from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Foundation help fund the purchase of materials. The club broke ground on the project on June 15, 2011 and the building exterior was completed on September 25, 2011.

For more information, visit the project website at www.jerichowarminghut.com or visit the "News" page at www.whitemtridgerunners.com

[dano]

Congrats to the WMRR on the great warming hut.

Hoping that this will not be the only one...

Nice Job...

[rogy]

Just letting people know the Jericho Warming Hut is open now that security cameras are installed Atv and snowmobilers are welcome to stop in enjoy your lunch and warm up[ throw a log in the stove ]Enjoy the park and sign in and let us know how you like it !Countless volunteer hours went into this project this summer and fall so please respect all we did and think about becoming a founder by purchasing one of the remaining logs
Thanks

[johnson]

rogy u beat me to it. 9:45 pm u sign in 5 minutes after you got home?

Can't wait to visit the hut and all i have to do is sign my name.

eric

[rogy]

Actually Eric 1-3/4 hours after we got back Larry drives slightly above the speed limit sometimes and that's after we almost got taken out by wrong way driver on rt 93 2 miles above Plymouth exit Nothing like seeing a set of headlights at 65mph coming at you in high speed lane hope no one got hit!!! oh ya we already signed book !! first two visitors

[johnson]

I knew i should of signed it Saturady night. Car going wrong way on 93, that must have been scary. Did u guys stop and let them go by? Hopefully there wasn't much traffic.

[moosehenden]

Is there snow on the ground up there? I was thinking of going up tomorrow and was just wondering what conditions are. Would like to see the warming hut.

[rogy]

Sorry reply a little late there is about 3-4 inches snow in park atv riding a little chilly talked to six brave souls out riding that stopped in ,we worked up at warming hut sun .doing some finishing touches plenty of wood ready to go

[moosehenden]

Thanks, Rogy. I ended up not feeling too well Saturday. So, we are shooting for this coming Saturday to try things out. Are the roads into town clear or closed?